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We compare products from their published specs and features; the verdicts below are our independent editorial opinions.
If you want active noise cancellation with AI-powered call clarity and a personalized sound profile, choose Anker Soundcore Liberty 5; if you need an open-ear clip design with LDAC hi-res audio and a secure, pressure-free fit for running, choose EarFun Clip 2.
• Anker Soundcore Liberty 5 — biggest strength: Active Noise Cancellation processing 384K+ noise signals per second, plus a Thus AI Chip that Anker says delivers whisper-clear calls even in 100 dB+ environments. Its biggest trade-off: it's an in-ear design with silicone tips and ear fins, so it seals your ear canal rather than letting sound in.
• EarFun Clip 2 — biggest strength: LDAC and Hi-Res Audio certification paired with a 12mm titanium-composite driver, all in a 5.5g-per-bud clip-on design that never enters your ear canal. Its biggest trade-off: no active noise cancellation at all, so you hear everything around you by design.
• Who the Anker is for: commuters, office workers and frequent callers who want silence on demand and a personalized EQ.
• Who the EarFun is for: runners, cyclists and anyone who wants open-ear awareness with hi-res codec support and a fit that won't shake loose.
• The core split: one blocks the world out; the other keeps you connected to it.
The Liberty 5 Pro is built around one idea: making the noisy world disappear, then making your voice cut through it anyway. Anker claims its ANC is 100% more effective than its previous flagship, driven by 8 sensors and the Thus AI Chip processing 384K+ noise signals per second. Anker specifically calls out subway, office and street noise as the targets. If your daily commute involves a packed train or an open-plan office, that's the use case this product was designed around.
The call side is where the engineering gets interesting. Ten sensors work with the Thus AI Chip to hold your voice steady whether you whisper, speak normally or shout, and Anker says it holds up in environments above 100 dB. There's also offline voice control with 20 built-in commands and zero processing delay, so you can skip tracks or adjust volume without touching your phone. Sound personalization comes via HearID 5.0 and an AI Audio Enhancer, which tune the output to your hearing rather than a generic curve.
Battery is worth understanding before you buy. With ANC on you get up to 6.5 hours per charge and up to 28 hours with the case, and a 5-minute top-up yields 4 hours of listening. There's a caveat Anker flags itself: in Extreme mode, battery drops to 2.5 hours (10.5 with the case) when multiple features run at once. The spec sheet also lists 12 hours average battery life and a 50-minute charge time, so real-world numbers will depend heavily on which modes you enable. Bluetooth 6.1, touch-and-slide controls, and a Pearl White finish round it out.
Who should buy it: anyone who treats noise cancellation and call quality as the two non-negotiables. Who should skip it: if you hate the feeling of silicone tips sealed in your ear canal, or you need to stay aware of traffic and surroundings while you run.
The Clip 2 solves a completely different problem. Its C-shaped bridge clips onto your ear without inserting anything into the canal, and EarFun says the bridge was tested through 20,000+ flexes. It combines 40° ultra-soft silicone with a 0.5mm nickel-titanium memory wire, so you can stretch and rotate it to match your ear shape. Each bud weighs 5.5g. For anyone who has abandoned earbuds because they hurt after an hour or fell out mid-run, this is the whole pitch.
The audio side leans on LDAC and Hi-Res Audio certification, plus a 12mm titanium-composite dynamic driver with a dual-magnetic circuit. EarFun also includes Spatial Stage Technology for a wider 3D soundstage and Directional Sound Tech that keeps your music present while still letting traffic and announcements through. That awareness is the point, not a compromise — it's what makes these sensible for running and commuting on foot. Note the impedance is 32 ohm and sensitivity 100 dB, with a frequency range of 20Hz–20,000Hz.
Battery and connectivity are strong on paper: up to 11 hours per charge and 40 hours with the USB-C case, dropping to about 6 hours per charge when LDAC is enabled. A 10-minute charge gives 2.5 hours. Bluetooth 6.0 handles multipoint switching between phone, tablet and laptop, and Google Fast Pair speeds up setup. There's also real-time AI translation across 100+ languages through the EarFun Audio App, IP55 dust and water resistance on the buds (the case is excluded), and physical buttons instead of touch controls — which means far fewer accidental presses.
One thing to be clear about: the spec sheet lists noise control as None. There is no ANC here. You are buying open-ear awareness, not silence. The 4-mic AI call system does work to isolate your voice from background noise on calls, but it won't block out the room around you.
• Best for noise cancellation → Anker Soundcore Liberty 5. Active Noise Cancellation with 8 sensors and 384K+ signals processed per second. The EarFun Clip 2 has none.
• Best for call clarity in loud places → Anker Soundcore Liberty 5. Ten sensors plus the Thus AI Chip, rated for 100 dB+ environments.
• Best for hi-res wireless audio → EarFun Clip 2. LDAC and Hi-Res Audio certification with a 12mm titanium-composite driver.
• Best for running and outdoor training → EarFun Clip 2. 5.5g per bud, IP55 on the buds, and an open-ear design that lets you hear traffic.
• Best for total battery life → EarFun Clip 2. Up to 11 hours per charge and 40 hours with the case, versus 6.5/28 for the Anker with ANC on.
• Best for battery life with top features running → Anker Soundcore Liberty 5. A 5-minute charge returns 4 hours, and 6.5 hours with full ANC is still substantial for sealed earbuds.
• Best for fit comfort over long sessions → EarFun Clip 2. Nothing enters the ear canal, and the memory-wire bridge flexes to your shape.
• Best for personalized sound → Anker Soundcore Liberty 5. HearID 5.0 and the AI Audio Enhancer tune output to your hearing.
• Best for travel and translation → EarFun Clip 2. Real-time AI translation across 100+ languages via the app, plus Bluetooth 6.0 multipoint.
In my opinion, the Anker Soundcore Liberty 5 is the one I'd buy if I had to pick just one, and the reason is narrow: active noise cancellation is a feature you can't add later, and the Liberty 5 is the only one of these two that has it. Combined with the ten-sensor call setup and HearID personalization, it covers the situations most people actually buy earbuds for — commuting, working and taking calls.
That said, I'd recommend the EarFun Clip 2 without hesitation to runners, cyclists and anyone who has given up on in-ear buds because of discomfort or fit. LDAC support, IP55 on the buds and a 5.5g clip-on design are a genuinely different product category, not a lesser version of the same thing. Decide which problem you're solving, and the choice becomes obvious.
FAQ
what is ldac headphones
what is ldac support in headphones
LDAC support means the headphones can receive a higher-bitrate Bluetooth audio stream, so more of the original recording's detail survives the wireless trip. On the EarFun Clip 2, LDAC works alongside a 12mm titanium-composite driver, and enabling it reduces battery life to about 6 hours per charge instead of the usual 11. The Anker Soundcore Liberty 5's spec sheet does not list LDAC.
what is ldac codec in headphones
The LDAC codec is the encoding method itself — the way audio is compressed and sent over Bluetooth before your earbuds decode it. It's one reason the EarFun Clip 2 qualifies as a hi-res audio product rather than a standard wireless earbud. If LDAC matters to you, check both your earbuds and your source device support it.
No. The EarFun Clip 2's spec sheet lists noise control as None, because it's an open-ear design meant to let ambient sound in. Its 4 mics and AI noise cancellation work on your voice during calls, not on the sound reaching your ears. If you want active noise cancellation, the Anker Soundcore Liberty 5 is the one with it.
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